“There will be breakthroughs in battery technology, they’re on the horizon,” Akerson said. “We’re actually developing a car today which is really anathema to the way the auto industry works: We’re running a dual play on the technology to see which one will succeed. One will result in” a 100-mile range, “the other will be a 200-mile range.”

Akerson went on to say that fuel consumption can be reduced by 6.5 percent if the vehicle weight is cut by 10 percent. GM's goal is to cut weight by as much as 15 percent.

GM CEO Dan Akerson

Further, Akerson described GM's previous plans to put 500,000 green vehicles on the roads by 2017. It's doing this with its Chevrolet Volt, the new all-electric version of the Chevrolet Spark and a diesel version of the Chevrolet Cruze.

“Everywhere you look there are opportunities to seize the energy high ground,” Akerson said. “Indeed, our leaders have been presented with an historic opportunity to create a national energy policy from a position of strength and abundance. The pillars of such a plan must include energy diversity, so we do not become dependent on any one fuel or energy source.”

Last week, Akerson called for a consumer-driven national energy policy where he'd like President Barack Obama to appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission (which would lead to the development a 30-year policy framework for energy security with progress reviews every five years).

You totally miss the point on shopping bags. The issue is not price, it's pollution. Not atmospheric pollution, but pollution in the form of plastic bags being strewn all over land and water. Plastic that is non-biodegradable, even poisonous or at least hazardous to animals when they ingest it. Plastic that clogs landfills, interfering with natural decomposition processes, leaching into groundwater, which you then drink either directly or indirectly by consuming produce grown with it. And so on.

As for 'clean' diesels, there ain't no such thing. As long as you can smell the diesel exhaust, that means you are inhaling micron-sized carcinogenic soot. And not just inhaling, but also ingesting, because that crap gets in everything. Woe be to you if you happen to live near a freeway or a busy roadway, with clouds of diesel exhaust bellowing all around you. Sure, individual cars may produce small amounts by virtue of being 'clean', but if these things become popular and wide-spread, those small amounts will tend to add together into Beijing-style toxic miasma. Especially in places where geography constrains air movement or hot summer climates promote smog formation...

Where I live, there isn't a plastic bag (or any other litter, for that matter) to be seen. In fact many people pick up the stray McDonald's wrapper or straw when they go for walks. So we have no need for Benevolent Dictator telling us we cannot use plastic bags any more.

As for diesel, you need to compare it to the status quo. A diesel car will replace a gasoline car. It will get significantly better mileage. That's a plus.

I had a diesel car back in the '80s. Great car but there was some blue exhaust (no longer an issue) and the rattle of the engine at idle was irritating to some (no longer an issue). Diesels are great.

@Dorkyman: That's proably because the wildlife is eating the garbage, rain washing it down into the storm drains (which go to creeks/lakes/sea), and wind dispersing the bags more than 10ft from where you walk.

Your 'Benevolent Dictator' of choice is the invisible hand of the market economy. Except it is not remotely benevolent; it is at best indifferent. At worst, it's malevolent, especially in cases where negative impacts are either not priced properly, or never priced in the first place.

No, these days as it relates to the environment, "green" refers to the greenhouse effect and global warming and not to localized litter. Regular shopping bags are perfectly recyclable, so reusable shopping bags are promoted as "green." Got it? Litter is a completely different issue.

Who died and bequeathed you the authority to redefine not just mere words, but entire conceptual frameworks? Pollution is pollution, no matter whether it takes the form of 'litter' or not. Green policies seek to minimize pollution in particular, and all negative/disruptive effects on natural ecosystems in general.

Not to mention the gear-heads who have re chipped along with other modifications and figure the amount of soot and emissions spouting from their stacks is directly proportional to the torque and HP output of their 1 tonne diesel trucks.